In the first three quarters of 2024, the adjusted EBITDA result of the Żabka Group amounted to PLN 2.52 billion, an increase of 26 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. This excellent result was achieved thanks to the growth of the business scale and improved cost efficiency. As a result, the margin of the adjusted EBITDA result after 9 months of 2024 amounted to 12.3 percent, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year.
For 9 months of 2024, the Żabka Group continued dynamic growth due to increasing comparable sales (LfL), opening new stores, and developing a digital offer. End-customer sales amounted to PLN 20.4 billion, an increase of 20.4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Revenues increased by 20 percent and reached PLN 17.7 billion. In the 3rd quarter alone, the adjusted EBITDA result was PLN 1.11 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. End-customer sales amounted to PLN 7.5 billion, an increase of 17 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Revenues increased by 18 percent, reaching PLN 6.6 billion. The net result in the 3rd quarter was PLN 319 million, up by 42 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
Tomasz Suchański, CEO of the Żabka Group, comments:
I am pleased that our first post-IPO financial and operational results confirm that the Żabka Group’s strategy is being implemented in line with the goals we set and communicated. For 9 months of 2024, our growth significantly exceeded the dynamics of the entire retail food market, reflected in over 20 percent sales dynamics to the end customer and over 25 percent dynamics of the adjusted EBITDA result. By the end of the year, we intend to open a total of about 1,100 stores in Poland and Romania, and achieve sales growth in existing locations in the expected range of 7.5-9 percent.
Marta Wrochna-Łastowska, CFO of the Żabka Group, adds:
Both in the 3rd quarter and in the 9 months of 2024, we improved profitability ratios, including the adjusted EBITDA margin and the net profit margin, contributing to generating significantly larger cash flow and further debt reduction. In line with our IPO announcements, in the medium term we aim to improve the adjusted EBITDA margin towards the upper limit of the 12-13 percent range. Recent trading results, cost normalization, and increased operational efficiency should also contribute to improving the EBITDA margin in 2024 compared to 2023.
Key information about the Żabka Group’s results for the period of 9 months of 2024:
– In the 3rd quarter of 2024, the adjusted EBITDA result increased to PLN 1,119 million (+17.8 percent YoY). Solid quarterly results and cost efficiency programs implemented from the beginning of 2024 resulted in a 26 percent YoY increase in the adjusted EBITDA to PLN 2,518 million over the period of 9 months.
– In the 3rd quarter of 2024, sales to end customers amounted to PLN 7,499 million, up by 17 percent compared to the 3rd quarter of 2023. Over the 9 months of 2024, this result reached PLN 20,392 million (up by 20.4 percent YoY).
– The Group’s revenues in the 3rd quarter increased by 18 percent to PLN 6,578 million. Over the 9 months, they increased by 20 percent YoY to reach PLN 17,726 million.
– The increase in sales was equally due to the growth of comparable sales (LfL) and the expansion of the store network.
– Since September 2023, the network of Żabka Group stores increased by 999 establishments to 10,906 locations operating at the- end of the 3rd quarter of 2024 (including newly opened stores in Romania and Nano stores). In the 3rd quarter of 2024 alone, 266 points were opened, and in three quarters of 2024- 892 stores. In line with forecasts from the IPO, the Żabka Group estimates the market potential at about 19,500 stores in Poland and approx. 4,000 stores in Romania, indicating significant room for growth in both markets.
– Despite the slowdown in inflation in the 3rd quarter of 2024, the Żabka Group increased LfL sales by 8.6 percent over the period of 9 months and by 6 percent in the 3rd quarter, compared to the corresponding periods of the previous year.
– The adjusted EBITDA margin in the 3rd quarter of 2024 was 14.9 percent (+0.1pp YoY), and it reached 12.3 percent on a cumulative basis after 9 months (+0.6 pp). The increase was a result of the improvement in the direct margin, cost efficiency, energy cost normalization, and increasing results of the Group’s digital offer.
– Compared to the 3rd quarter of the previous year, net profit increased by 42 percent to PLN 319 million. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of 2024, it was 155 percent higher than a year earlier, amounting to PLN 377 million, mainly due to stable interest costs and a tax rate reduction. In the 3rd quarter of 2024, the net profit margin was 4.2 percent (+0.7pp), and over the 9-month period, it was at 1.8 percent (+1pp YoY).
– Capital expenditures (CAPEX) amounted to PLN 407 million in the 3rd quarter and PLN 1,052 million for the first nine months of 2024. Most of this amount was allocated to opening new stores and implementing the Żabka Café 2.0 concept and the PROSTO z PIECA offer, associated, among other things, with the installation of convection-microwave ovens in about 7,000 stores.
– In the three quarters of 2024, the ratio of net debt to the adjusted EBITDA result improved to 1.4x from 2.1x a year earlier. This positive trend was supported by a high level of generating free cash flows, which amounted to PLN 1.9 billion in the first 9 months of the year.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/wyniki-grupy-zabka-za-3-kwartal-2024-r-69492
